Commodities: Oil, Gold, Copper's Rough Week
Commodities held centre stage for most of the week for all the unwanted reasons: declining demand, prices and interest from the market.
Commodities held centre stage for most of the week for all the unwanted reasons: declining demand, prices and interest from the market.
A week for important news and reports from around the world: the US, Australia, New Zealand, Europe and China will all see meetings, reports, news or figures that will have a big bearing on economic and investment sentiment.
Yesterday, the Australian share market closed weaker across the board as the big miners and most of the banks fell. On Thursday the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index slid below the key 5000 mark, losing 80.5 points, or 1.59%, to 4979.5, while the broader All Ordinaries lost 79.6 points, or 1.55%, to 5050.9. Analysts says today investors face a day of turmoil as Wall St slumped overnight on renewed concerns about the economy with reports showing retail sales and employment are weakening.
The market is down 100 on the back of a 345 point fall on Wall St and a 153 point fall in the market predicted by the SFE Futures this morning. It has rallied from the open having been down 142 at worst.
The Australian Reserve Bank cut rates this week because the economy is slowing faster than it thought and the cut came despite inflation at 4.5%, the highest level for years.
Fears are swirling through Asia that the unrest in Thailand and Malaysia, the economic and political woes of Japan and the continuing weakness in South Korea might be a precursor to more serious problems at a time when the Australian economy's sole remaining lifeline is linked firmly into the region.
Meanwhile there's the proverbial good and bad news from China, with the bad of a type that will have considerable ramifications if true.